Where we share the beauty of the changing seasons on our 48 acre off grid homestead in the Cariboo Chilcotin. Where Touch Wood Rings are created, and where we live and work and play. 'The Homestone' is the name of the boulder that marks the entrance to our place.

The Homestone

Saturday, February 23, 2013

In homage to Spring, which is little ways off yet in our neck of the woods,

a vintage image of Heartsease.

Heartsease /Johnny-Jump-Up

From the Thomas Jefferson Center for Historic plants a little about this harbinger of spring.

Scientific Name:Viola tricolor

Jefferson recorded sowing seeds of "Tricolor" at Shadwell, his boyhood home, on April 2, 1767. It was grown in American gardens before 1700, although the first documented citation known is by John Lawson in History of Carolina (1718).
Native over large areas of Europe and western Asia, this ancestor of
our modern pansy has many common names, including wild pansy, ladies'
delight, and jump-up-and-kiss-me. The name "pansy" derives from the
French word pensée, an analogy used by Ophelia in Shakespeare's Hamlet: "and there is pansies, that's for thoughts." It is a hardy, spring-flowering perennial grown as an annual with
charming, pansy-like flowers showing three colors in shades of purple,
yellow, and white.

Here is another freely shared vintage card from this website; http://wordplay.hubpages.com/hub/vintage-flowers# where you will also find a collection of vintage images of birds and birthday cards and roses and seed packets. A delightful wander for a moment or two while the snow continues to melt.

Just 10 miles down the road at our nearest neighbours homestead we hear the Blackbirds have returned. This is early for our redwinged beauties to be back so perhaps spring is closer than we think. This pic is from spring two years ago.

Sunday, February 10, 2013

It really is still very much winter here on the meadow but we've had lots of warm sunny days that tease us into thinking spring might be around the corner. We are at a high elevation and although we are not 'northern' by any stretch of the imagination, our friends and family a little further south will see spring a good deal sooner than we will. Still... February feels like the bridge between hard core winter and the sweet green edges of early spring.

Our moose have been hanging about. Waking up here and grazing on abundant willow. David almost always knows when our four legged visitors are here before we see them. Moose sense.

The rising sun turning the snow covered meadows mauve and pink.

Back and forth ...some snowy days and those are pretty too. Nothing like a fresh coat of white to perk things up after a few sunny days of melt.

Blue skies most days now. We drove out to see where two new bridges are being set in to replace old and worn out crossings...

Sunday morning... bright and beautiful and pretty chilly too.

Thanks for dropping by. Till next time ~ be well and may spring find you early.